As has long been suspected, the sham that is the plastic bag levy has now been confirmed (Only half of plastic bag levy has gone to support recycling, March 19). According to the Treasury, the levy was not ring-fenced for the recycling industry "as this strategy was no longer considered best practice". One would have thought that when the government imposes a levy on its citizens for a clearly defined purpose, it would be best practice to use the funds so raised for that purpose only, with an expectation that the levy could be increased or reduced as required, and even done away with if no longer needed. In the absence of such logic and transparency, South African taxpayers should resign themselves to a deteriorating road infrastructure and an underfunded Road Accident Fund (RAF) and should not expect to benefit much, if anything at all, from the carbon tax, a sugar tax or whatever other taxes the bureaucracy will likely dream up sometime in the future. Perhaps the Treasury can expl...
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